Grief therapy in Golden, colorado
The world keeps spinning, people stop checking in, and you're left trying to hold something that feels far too big for words.
What is grief therapy?
Grief therapy can help you navigate the many forms of loss that can change your sense of yourself and your life. Grief isn’t just about losing someone. It’s about losing the version of life you thought you’d have.
It’s the ache in your chest when the world keeps turning like nothing happened. It’s forgetting for a moment that they’re gone, and then remembering all over again. It’s feeling like you should “be better by now,” while everything still feels tender and disoriented inside.
Who is grief therapy for?
I work with people in the raw, confusing aftermath of loss. Not only the death of a loved one, but the many ways life can fall apart: a diagnosis, a breakup, a big move, an identity shift, or the slow heartbreak of watching someone fade.
I know grief doesn’t follow a clean timeline. It doesn’t always look like tears. Sometimes it looks like numbing out, holding it all together, or wondering why the people around you don’t really get it.
How can grief therapy help?
In our work together, you don’t have to pretend. You don’t have to rush to find meaning or make it all okay. I offer a space where your grief can unfold in its own time, where it can be witnessed rather than fixed. Grief has a way of rearranging who we are. I’m here to help you find your footing inside that shift, to hold space for the pain and the possibility of becoming someone new on the other side of it. Grief therapy can give you space to process the loss, make sense of what has changed, and begin finding your footing in a life that may look different than you expected.
You don’t have to carry it alone. You don’t have to make it make sense right away. And you don’t have to go back to the version of yourself that existed before. Grief has likely changed you. Let’s find out who you are now, and what still matters, even in the midst of it.
How can grief affect relationships?
When you lose someone, it can feel like every relationship shifts. Sometimes people step in closer. Sometimes they pull away. Sometimes the very people you hoped would “get it” don’t know what to say or say the wrong thing.
RELATIONSHIPS ARE EVERYTHING.
They can be a source of deep comfort and connection. And they can also become complicated, tense, or even painful in times of loss.
If you’ve felt distance from your partner, family, or friends since your loss, you’re not alone. Grief has a way of pressing on the fault lines in our relationships. But it doesn’t have to end there. Relationships can heal. They can be rebuilt. They can even grow stronger.
That’s where therapy comes in. Together, we’ll make space for your grief while also tending to the connections that matter most.
What types of grief can I help with?
Grief isn’t limited to the loss that happens after someone dies. It can begin long before a death, arise from a life-changing diagnosis, or emerge when the future you imagined suddenly looks different.
I support people navigating the many forms grief can take, including the profound and complicated experiences that often come with losing a child, parent, sibling, or partner. I also work with people experiencing anticipatory grief, caregiver grief, traumatic loss, and the quieter losses that can be difficult to put into words.
This may include:
Child loss, including miscarriage, stillbirth, the loss of an infant, or the loss of a child at any age
Loss of a parent, whether the death was expected, sudden, or complicated by your relationship with them
Loss of a sibling, including the unique experience of losing someone who has shared your history and shaped your life
Loss of a partner or spouse, and the process of navigating life without someone who was part of your everyday world
Anticipatory grief, when you are grieving a loss that has not yet happened, such as when you or someone you love is facing a terminal or life-limiting illness
Caregiver grief and support, including the exhaustion, guilt, sadness, loneliness, role changes, and loss of self that can accompany caring for someone you love
Grief after suicide or violent death, when a loss may bring additional layers of trauma, confusion, anger, guilt, or unanswered questions
Grief after a sudden or unexpected death, when there was little or no opportunity to prepare
Grief related to medical experiences and diagnoses, including changes in health, independence, abilities, identity, or the future you imagined for yourself or your family
Grief related to life transitions and other significant losses, including changes in relationships, family roles, identity, or the life you expected to have
You don’t have to make your grief smaller to make room for the rest of your life. In our work together, we can slow down enough to understand what this loss has changed for you - your relationships, your sense of safety, your identity, and your hopes for the future. We can make space for the parts of grief that may feel messy or contradictory, including sadness, anger, guilt, relief, longing, and even moments of joy.
My goal isn’t to help you “get over” your loss, but to help you find a way to live alongside it that feels honest, sustainable, and true to you.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Yes. And more common than most people are led to believe. Pregnancy isn’t just a physical experience. It’s emotional, relational, and deeply identity-shifting. Alongside the anticipation, many people notice anxiety, mood changes, or a sense that they just don’t feel like themselves. About 1 in 5 moms (and 1 in 10 dads) experience anxiety or depression during pregnancy or in the postpartum period. What you’re feeling isn’t rare or random; it’s often a meaningful response to a very big transition. And it’s something we can work with together.
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There is no universal timeline for grief, even though the world often acts like there should be. Sometimes grief stays loud because there was not enough space to process it in the first place. Sometimes people had to stay functional, take care of everyone else, or survive the situation before they could actually feel it. Other times grief gets tangled up with guilt, identity shifts, unresolved relationships, trauma, or the pressure to “be okay.” Feeling grief months or years later does not mean you are failing. It often means something important still needs care, attention, compassion, or space to be understood.
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A lot of people come into therapy worried they are grieving the “wrong” way because they still miss someone deeply. But love and grief are connected. We do not usually stop caring about what mattered to us. Healing often looks less like moving on and more like learning how to move with grief differently. Over time, many people find that grief becomes less consuming, even if it never fully disappears.
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Grief can show up in so many different ways emotionally. Grief is deeply human, and it rarely follows a clean or predictable path. People often expect sadness, but grief can also look like:
Anxiety
Anger
Numbness
Relief
Guilt
Irritability
Loneliness
Confusion
Difficulty concentrating
Feeling disconnected from yourself or others
A loss of meaning or direction
Some people cry constantly. Others cannot cry at all. Some people feel everything intensely, while others feel strangely flat. None of these responses automatically mean you are grieving incorrectly.
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Yes, grief can impact mental health in significant ways.
Loss can shake your sense of safety, stability, identity, and control. After a major loss, many people notice increased anxiety, overthinking, panic, hopelessness, exhaustion, or symptoms of depression. Grief can also bring up older wounds, fears, or patterns that were already sitting beneath the surface. That does not mean you are broken. It means your mind and body are responding to something painful and meaningful.
Sometimes it can be hard to tell where grief ends and anxiety or depression begin because they often overlap. Therapy can help you make sense of what you are experiencing without reducing you to a diagnosis.
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Absolutely. Grief is emotional, but it is also physical.
Many people notice changes in sleep, appetite, energy levels, concentration, digestion, tension, or immune functioning after a loss. Some people feel exhausted all the time. Others feel restless and unable to slow down. Your nervous system is trying to adapt to something significant.
We often underestimate how much the body carries. Part of grief work can involve reconnecting with your body, your needs, and the signals you may have learned to ignore while trying to keep going.
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One of the most supportive things you can do is resist the urge to fix their grief. People often feel pressure to say the “right” thing, but grief usually needs presence more than solutions.
Let them talk about the person or loss. Let them repeat themselves. Let them have hard days. Be patient with the fact that grief is not linear. It can also help to remember that everyone grieves differently. One person may want to talk constantly while another may need quiet and space.
Supporting someone in grief often means getting curious about what they need instead of assuming. And if you are supporting someone through loss, your experience matters too. Grief affects relationships, families, and entire systems, not just individuals.
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You do not have to be falling apart to deserve support. Some people seek grief therapy immediately after a loss. Others come years later when they realize they have been carrying something heavy alone for a long time.
You might benefit from grief therapy if:
Your grief feels overwhelming or isolating
You feel stuck or disconnected from yourself
You are struggling to function day to day
You keep avoiding certain emotions or memories
Loss has changed your sense of identity or meaning
Anxiety, burnout, numbness, or depression have increased since the loss
You want a space where you do not have to minimize your experience
Therapy is not about “fixing” grief. It is about creating space to process, understand, and move through it with support.
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Absolutely! Grief is not limited to death. People grieve relationships, identities, life stages, dreams, careers, health changes, versions of themselves, and futures they thought they would have.
Breakups and major transitions can bring up deep feelings of loss, uncertainty, loneliness, and disorientation, especially when life no longer looks the way you expected it to. Sometimes people tell themselves they “shouldn’t” be grieving because someone is still alive or because the loss seems less visible from the outside. But grief does not only come from death. It comes from change, attachment, meaning, and love.
Therapy can help you process what has shifted, reconnect with yourself, and explore who you are becoming in the middle of change.
Grief changes everything. Therapy can help you learn how to live with it, without losing yourself.
Wondering If Therapy Might Help?
Grief is strange.
One moment you’re holding it together, the next you’re crying in the produce aisle because peaches are back in season and that meant something to you and the person you lost.
And then, on top of that? You start feeling like you’re too much for bringing it up or not enough for still struggling.
If any of that sounds familiar, you’re in good company here.